Make A Move
by naleyoth-love-jamesnjoy
Summary: Nathan Scott and Haley James have been friends since childhood. Can a new girl in Nathan's life change his relationship with close and dear friend Haley? Will they keep in touch now that he has a girlfriend or Will they grow apart? Read to find out. (Set in an alternate universe)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! :)**

**I'm back with another Naley story. I've divided this particular one-shot into two chapters since it turned out to be quite lengthy.**

**In this one, Nathan and Haley are again- close friends who eventually turn into something more. I know that I've posted stories with similar background but this one's a bit different. I really hope you guys enjoy reading it.**

**Make A Move**

"Hey Mrs. James." Nathan Scott greeted as the front door of the James' house opened widely, revealing a thin blonde haired woman, probably in her mid-forties, dressed in a loose fitting yellow shaded blouse and a black calf length skirt.

Lydia James smiled at the seventeen year old and six feet tall teenager standing before her. She leaned in to envelope him in a warm hug and ushered him inside the neat and tidy house.

"Nathan dear, how many times have I asked you not to call me Mrs. James? I've known you since my youngest daughter and you were in diapers. So you better start calling me Lydia." She warned sternly and smiled in satisfaction when he chuckled in a low voice, raising his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

"Anyway, how have you been?" Lydia asked offering him a plate full of french toasts and croissants.

"Thanks Mrs. James, I mean Lydia." He quickly corrected himself, a sheepish smile gracing his lips as Lydia raised her eyebrows in challenge, her hands resting on either side of her hips.

"That's much better."

Accepting the plate of delicious food, he quickly grabbed a croissant and placed it in his watering mouth. He hadn't managed to get any breakfast at his place since he was worried and concerned about one of his very close friends. He, like the rest of his friends knew that she wanted to be left alone, so they all had agreed to give her some space. But it had been nearly two days now and they hadn't heard anything from their auburn haired friend who was grieving the death of someone whom she loved dearly.

After chewing and swallowing the breakfast food down his throat and into his growling stomach, Nathan stood up and placed the half empty plate on the coffee table resting a few feet away from him.

"To be honest, the main purpose of my visit is to check on Haley. She hasn't answered any of our calls in the past two days." He revealed worriedly. "How's she holding up?"

Lydia sighed sadly. "She hasn't talked to anyone but me and her father since the sudden and unexpected death of Bob. Jimmy said that she cried her heart out yesterday night. After all she and Bob were very close and we all know how much she loved him."

Nathan nodded knowingly as his gaze instinctively travelled up to the stairs and to the closed door of the first room situated towards the right side. Following his gaze, Lydia walked towards him and patted on his back in encouragement.

"Why don't you go up and see if she's awake. Haley told me that she didn't want to go to school but staying alone in that gloomy room and moping and sulking is not going to help her feel any better. She needs to move on in her life, get out and breathe in some fresh air. You are the only one who can convince her to do so."

Contemplating what she had just said, he nodded at the woman standing before him in agreement.

Lydia James was a wise woman. She knew exactly what was needed to be done in any given situation. He considered her as his second mom since his relationship with his own mother was strained and complicated. Smiling softly, he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek, climbed up two stairs at a time and upon reaching the desired destination, he knocked three times on his friend's bedroom door. Receiving no answer, he muttered a quick prayer before closing his eyes and trying the handle lock.

Nathan released a massive sigh of relief and silently thanked the angels in heaven when the wooden polished door opened with a soft squeak.

Stepping inside, the first thing he noticed was the pitch-black darkness engulfing the large spacious bedroom. In the seventeen years that he had lived, Nathan had been there more than a million times but never had he found the room so damn depressing. He knew each and every corner of her room by heart. Had memorised every little thing, the manner in which the various paintings or showpieces were placed in the past ten years or so. Releasing a quiet sigh, he walked twenty steps to his right and pushed the thick blue colored curtain aside, opening the one and only window present in the room. He closed his eyes, taking in the small amount of sunlight and reveled in the refreshing air kissing his clean shaved face. Turning back, he was startled to find a girl sitting upright on the large unmade bed, her chin resting on both her knees.

If he didn't know Haley James any better, he would have not recognized the numb figure immobilised before his eyes. This small and fragile girl looked so very different than the otherwise vibrant and energetic Haley. The same Haley who beat the shit out of Felix Taggaro when the guy indigenous to Spain had committed the biggest mistake of his life by bullying him. The same Haley who convinced him that not all five year old girls loved to play with freaking barbie dolls. The same Haley who had comforted and reassured him that everything would be alright when his parents had filed for a divorce.

No.

This Haley James was a total contrast to his usual cheerful friend. He could clearly see her tear stricken face with the small amount of sunlight entering and radiating the previously lightless and dingy room.

Nathan walked towards the bed and watched as Haley stared blankly straight forward at nothing in particular. He tersely sat next to her and gathered her into a very tight embrace, trying his best to provide comfort in the only way he knew. His heart contracted and ached painfully when she didn't hug him back, her hands dangling lifelessly down at her sides.

"Everything is gonna be okay. I promise, everything is gonna be okay." He whispered into her ear over and over again while running his hands up and down her fabric clad back soothingly.

Nathan's lips curved ever so lightly in happiness when he felt her hands wound around his neck and then he heard the quiet sobs escaping her mouth. He kept muttering soothing and comforting words into her ear repeteadly as she cried into his chest, dampening his grey t-shirt in the process and leaving a big wet circle right at the center of it.

Pulling away so that he could look at her red face, he chuckled as she mumbled a low 'sorry' and attempted to clean the mess that she had managed to leave on one of his favorite outfits.

"It's alright. Everything is alright." Nathan assured while wiping the visible tears stains away from both her reddened cheeks.

"You do know that we're all worried about you right?" He asked tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Haley nodded softly and then spoke in a raspy voice.

"I just miss him so much."

"I know you do. We all miss Bob. He was a part of our group and he'll always be with us, Hales but you can't just lock yourself in your room and cut yourself from the outside world. All living creatures die at some point in their lives. It's unfortunate but natural. Do you understand that?" He asked looking intently at her, trying his very best to make her understand.

"I understand, Nathan." She answered after taking in his determined words and clearing her dry throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't return any of your or others' call. I just couldn't."

He nodded in understanding and then tugged on her hands, forcing her to get off the bed. "Now come on. We've got important classes that we ought to attend today. I'm not letting you stay in here, in this dull and rayless bedroom of yours for another minute. Go take a shower and get ready. I'll be waiting for you downstairs and I don't want to hear you say 'No'." He commanded in a stern voice when she was about to protest. Sighing in defeat, she only nodded and watched as he pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead and brusquely walk out of her room.

"Oh thank goodness. It's so good to finally see you well and walking." Brooke Davis commented when she spotted Nathan and Haley step on to the outdoor basketball court, a spot in the school campus where they all usually hung out.

Haley rewarded all the guys with a smile that signalled 'I'm fine' when they all looked at her with a worried expression. Every one of them took their turn in enveloping the most loved girl in the entire Tree Hill High; a few ruffled her hair while others tapped her back in a friendly gesture.

"I'm fine guys, really." Haley said as they all gathered around her, sharing a happy group hug.

"Well, that you are." Clay Evans smirked and followed to chuckle when Haley playfully pushed at his shoulder.

"It's good to see you smile again, Hales." Lucas Roe commented while gathering her tiny body into a side hug.

"Yeah. We all missed that pretty smile and also that pretty face of yours." Peyton Sawyer added as everyone echoed their voices in agreement.

"You see, Hales. There are so many people in this world who care for you and who love you so much. Bob loved you too and he's always gonna be with us in our memories. In our hearts." Nathan declared vehemently and smiled when Haley nodded, her eyes welling up with tears yet again, but this time for a completely different reason.

"I'm so damn lucky to have you guys in my life. I love you all so much."

"Awww. We love you too, James." Clay stepped forward, brushing her tears away.

Twisting her face in extreme disgust, one of the cheerleaders Rachel Gatina walked towards the group of six and crossed her hands, resting them under her barely covered chest. She'd had enough of the sick scene playing out infront of her which literally made her gag. The redhead never really understood why the fat and ugly Haley James was popular in the first place. According to her, the auburn haired girl was nothing compared to her and yet everybody was fond of her. That was one of the many reasons why she hated Haley James. Clearing her throat way too noisily, she smiled evily when everyone's attention turned towards her.

"What are you? Five?" Haley knew without a doubt that the bitchy redhead cheerleader's annoyimg words were directed towards her. She looked down when Nathan interlocked his fingers with hers and gave them a light squeeze. Hearing the cringy voice again, she sighed patiently and looked up once again at the girl who she and her friends referred to as 'Rach-ho'.

"Grow up, Haley! Bob was just a freaking cat for Christ's sake. Hundreds of them die everyday all around the world. Big deal!"

Silence.

There wasn't a single person who made even the slightest of move. Not even the few tall trees adoring the court dared to sway along with the strong force of the wind. The gazes of Lucas, Clay, Brooke, Peyton, Nathan and the other students present around them travelled between the snickering redhead and the fuming auburn haired girl.

A series of gasps ranging from shocked, surprised, horrified, stunned and excited reverberated around the area right at the moment when Haley flung herself over Rachel's wide eyed form. The petite girl tackled the arrogant cheerleader down on the hard surface of the court, pulling on her hair and smacking hard slaps across the screaming and crying redhead's face.

Ignoring the chants of 'fight' and 'take off your clothes', the guys along with the two girls moved forward and combined all of their strength and energy in order to get their out-of-control friend's body off the wailing girl.

After a lot of effort, they finally managed to pull Haley more than twenty feet away, holding onto her tightly as she kicked and screamed, demanding to let go of her.

Using it as an advantage, Rachel crawled back, then quickly scrambled herself onto her feet and sprinted away from the girl who had attacked her violently just a few second ago.

When Nathan and the rest of the guys felt Haley's body relax under their strong hold, they reluctantly and slowly let go of her one by one. He stepped infront of her heaving form and rested both of his hands on either side of her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Taking in a deep breath and then quickly releasing it with a sound of a 'whoosh', she nodded before muttering a quiet 'yeah'.

"God, Hales. What the freaking hell was that?"

Haley narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows in question.

"Didn't you hear the way 'Rach-ho' spoke about Bob? What did you expect me to do? Applaude her for that rude remark?" She snapped sarcastically.

The rest of the guys watched their two friends endlessly glaring at one another. Peyton and Brooke rolled their eyes while the guys groaned as their friends started with their usual hot and cold behavior towards one another. They never really understood their weird relationship. One minute they'd be the best of buddies and in the very next moment, the worst of enemies. They turned towards one another with knowing looks and carried on chatting with, ignoring the two bickering friends.

"I know what Rachel said was rude but when have we ever heard sweet and decent remarks coming out of her mouth. Oh wait, that's right never! There was no need for you to attack her. If she complains to Principal Turner, you could be suspended. Did that thought even cross your mind?"

"Whatever!" She snapped carelessy and continued speaking as she started walking away, Brooke and Peyton following her trail. "Besides, if she plans on keeping her fake boobs and other parts of her body intact until prom, she'll keep her freaking mouth shut."

Fisting his hands and clenching his teeth together in order to keep himself from retorting back, Nathan glared when his friends laughed loudly at Haley's last comment.

"You and we both know that it's true, dude." Clay told him with a pointed look and smiled widely when his tall friend sagged his shoulders.

"Come on, guys. Let's get going." Lucas chuckled dragging Nathan and Clay out of the court and then followed to walk towards their first class that they all had together.

"So, when the hell are you gonna ask Brooke out?"

Haley asked before taking a big bite of her hamburger and watched as Lucas continued to eat the food from his plate, ignoring her question.

They were soon joined by Clay, Brooke and Peyton. Haley rolled her eyes seeing Lucas' face lightt up when the brunette beauty- Brooke took a seat next to him. Both of them immediately started on an interesting conversation.

God only knows when they'd finally get together. Both of them had been flirting non stop with each other since school started seven months ago. A few days back, Clay had discreetly spotted them kissing in one of the empty classrooms. Nobody knew what was the actual deal with them. Were they already dating? If yes, then why all the secrecy?

Haley shook her head and turned, watching Nathan walk towards their table. Her eyebrows furrowed together when he swiftly changed his route and disappeared out of her sight. Where the heck did he go?

"Hey Peyton, has any one asked you to prom yet?" Haley was interrupted by the voice of Clay and like everybody at the table, she turned towards her gorgeous blonde and curly haired friend waiting for her reply. But before the blushing girl could answer, all of their heads turned towards a familiar voice greeting them. Five pairs of different colored eyes went wide in a mixture of shock and surprise as they watched a new girl holding hands with Nathan. The same guy who never ever held hands of any girl publicly (well except for Haley). 'For how long had I been absent again?' Haley mused as she saw a brief 'loving' exchange between Nathan and the stunning girl holding his left hand.

"Hey guys." Nathan called out nervously as he noticed his friends' respective gazes locked down on his hand.

"Hey man." Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Who is this beautiful lady?"

"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Alex Dupre- my...uh...my-"

"His girlfriend." Alex informed them all and watched as Haley choked on her drink that she had been nursing for the past few minutes. Feeling a movement through the corner of her eyes, she held her hands up to gesture that she was okay when Nathan rushed beside her in concern.

"Your girlfriend?" Clay questioned as others were still immersed in digesting the latest news.

"Yeah. I actually wanted to tell you guys a week ago but then Bob..." He trailed off, sneaking an inconspicuous glance at Haley.

"Hey Alex. My name is Lucas and this is Clay, that's Brooke, Peyton and Haley. It's nice to meet you." Lucas introduced with a friendly smile as he noticed Alex's discomfort.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all too. Nathan has spoken great things about you guys. Especially you, Haley." She smiled a megawatt smile and looked around at everyone and finally rested her eyes on Haley who smiled back at her.

"Why don't you both join us?" Peyton suggested happily and gestured Nathan to grab a couple of chairs from the nearby vacant table.

When everyone was settled comfortably at the round table, Nathan spoke up after exchanging a dazzling smile with his girlfriend.

"I met Alex a couple of weeks ago. She was new in town and I bumped into her one evening at a music store. It was crush at first sight for me. I was simply hypnotised by this girl's beauty and her mesmerising eyes. I know it all sounds lovey-dovey but that's how I felt at that particular moment. Anyway, we started up a conversation in which I discovered that she had already joined our school. We talked everyday after that and then I finally asked her out a few days back. So, here we are now." Nathan finished enthusiastically, his eyes lighting up when Alex pressed a lingering kiss on the side of his cheek.

"Wow. Alex, what have you done to our friend? We've never seen him act this way before." Haley marveled reveling in this new and utterly different side of Nathan.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Alex asked anxiously as she awaited a reply.

"Oh, it's definitely good." Brooke commented as Alex released a long breath that she didn't know she had been holding.

"To be honest-" Clay chimed in, "-I thought Nate and Haley had a thing for each other but I guess I was wrong."

"What?" Haley and Nathan shouted at the same time and then stared at each other, their faces mirroring a look of horror and disgust at that absurd thought.

"Dude, we are just friends!" Haley smaked Clay's shoulder as laughter erupted around the table.

"So does that mean I have a chance?" Clay smirked moving close to Haley who chortled.

"No way buddy."

"I thought you were after Sara. What happened to do her?" Lucas inquired inquisitively.

"I've tried everything to get her attention but she just doesn't care." Clay confessed sadly.

"Looks like you really like this girl." Alex said with a gleeful smile.

"I do." Clay affirmed and turned back to Haley. "You do know that I was just kidding with ya, right?"

"Yes Clay. I know."

The shrill sound of the bell rang, indicating the end of recess. Cleaning the table and dumping the mess into a nearby wastebasket, everybody gathered their things and started making the short walk to their respective classes.

"Are you coming?" Alex asked turning back to look at her boyfriend.

"Why don't you go ahead? I just wanna have a quick chat with Hales."

She nodded and continued to walk with his other friends. Nathan grinned hearing her tuneful laugh when Brooke whispered something into her ear. He was happy his friends had accepted Alex. He initially worried that they would be angry with him for waiting so long to break the news to them. But thankfully, everything had turned out to be great. He instantly felt all the heavy weight getting lifted off his shoulder by an invisible force.

Remembering the reason why he had stayed back, Nathan frowned when he found no sign of Haley. How long had he been standing there?

His heart almost jumped up in his throat when Haley's not so happy face suddenly appeared infront of his eyes- out of nowhere. Nathan closed his eyes trying to calm his erratic breathing and rested his right hand on his chest against which he could feel his heart thudding wildly.

"God! Hales, you bloody scared me." He managed to croak out in between gulping a mouthful of air.

"That's nothing compared to you springing your girlfriend upon me. Upon all of us." She looked at him pointedly.

"I'm sorry, okay? I thought that was a good place and time to introduce Alex to all of you." He said once he felt himself breathing like a normal human. "Are you angry with me?"

"Do you want me to be angry with you?"

"No." He stepped closer, taking her hands in his. "Aren't you happy for me?"

Haley's features softened and a genuine smile illuminated her face. "Of course, I'm happy for you, you idiot." He released a sigh of relief and lifted her off the ground when she gave him a hug. Giggling, she held on to him until her feet landed back on the ground.

"Congratulations buddy. Alex seems like a great girl."

"She is." He assured her while draping his arm around her shoulder and walking to their next class.

"So, you're coming over to my house tonight right? It's the movie night." She asked for confirmation but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the look of guilt erupt all over his face.

"What?" Haley asked, squinting her eyes and looking at him with a weird twist of her lips.

Nathan nervously rubbed his free hand at the nape of his neck and looked down at the ground avoiding her smoldering gaze.

"I'm waiting."

"Alex and I are going out tonight." When she didn't reply back, he rushed to explain further. "It's just that Alex wants to spend time with me. I really like her Hales and I don't want to do anything that'll ruin whatever we have but I promise I'll come over tomorrow night."

Not being able to stand his pleading eyes any longer, she relunctantly nodded and felt her heart flutter when he happily squeezed her body against his into a sidehug.

It had exactly been one month since Haley and the rest of the guys had had a proper conversation with Nathan. He spent all of his time with his girlfriend Alex and her friends. During the lunch hour, he'd pass by their table and acknowledge them with just a slight wave of his hand or a nod and then go on to join his girlfriend at a different table.

Being true to his word, Nathan had gone over to Haley's house the previous month like he had promised but as soon as he'd entered her room, he had received a text on his phone from his girlfriend. His eyes had sparkled and he'd followed to blurt a few unintelligible words which Haley hadn't understood. After apologizing, Nathan had kissed her forehead and mumbled a quick goodbye and sprinted out of her room like a bat out of hell.

She seldom saw him, both during school hours and outside. It was as if he had forgotten that he even had friends. He was blinded by Alex or may be Alex was a witch and she had worked her magic on her handsome and innocent...ok not so innocent friend.

Haley's thoughts were interuptted when she felt the mattress dip down followed by the unmistakable voice of her brunette friend.

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

Haley removed her reading glasses and closed the book (that she had been kind of reading before her mind drifted to her MIA raven haired friend) and looked up to find Brooke and Peyton staring at her with incandescent smiles on their faces.

"Isn't it obvious? I was reading this." She showed them the front cover of the novel that read 'The Fault In The Stars by John Green' and placed it aside on the bed.

"I don't understand why you need to read that novel when there's already a movie based on it." Peyton commented and shook her head when Haley shrugged her shoulders.

"Is there any solid reason for your visit?"

"Wow. Somebody's in a good mood." Brooke whispered sarcastically but loud enough for Haley to hear. "Anyway-" she continued as a wide smile radiated her face, "-Lucas finally asked me out and we'll be going to prom together."

"Oh thank God, he finally asked you out. You guys have been driving me sick for the past few weeks by throwing sweet and flirty comments at each other." Seeing the funny pout on Brooke's face, Haley dragged herself forward and surprised the brunette with a hug.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." Brooke smiled a dazzling smile. That same smile changed into laughter when Peyton hugged her from behind and she found herself sandwiched between the two giggling girls.

"So, what about you?" Haley asked after breaking apart from their never ending hug, her eyes boring into Peyton's, who was trying very hard to appear baffled.

"What do you mean?"

Peyton asked back innocently while Brooke's eyes travelled between the two girls in confusion.

"Peyton, my friend, I've got my eyes everywhere. Do you think I don't know what's going on between you and Jake?" Haley asked raising her eyebrows in challenge.

"Where...wh...how do you...-"

Haley chuckled quietly as she took in the look of horror and shock on her friend's face. She heard Brooke gasp next to her, her green emerald eyes bulging out of her sockets.

"Come on now. Spill."

Peyton fell back on the bed with a giddy smile and sensed Haley and Brooke lie in the same position on either side of her face.

"He kissed me earlier today." She looked to her left at Brooke who looked stunned, then right at Haley who smiled and finally back at the ceiling. "I like him a lot and he asked me to be his date at the prom and...uh...and also his girlfriend." Peyton revealed timidly, her cheeks flushing crimson red.

"Wow. So you guys are together now?" Brooke asked as she digested the news of latest development in her friend's life who nodded in response.

"What is it with everyone confessing their feelings for each other and ending up being a couple?" Haley pouted looking across to the two girls giving her a look of sympathy.

"Clay is still single." Peyton said, trying to cheer up the brooding girl.

"Not anymore." Brooke informed and went on to explain further. "I saw him and Sara sucking faces in the school hallway yesterday."

"So to summarise everything in short, I've got no date for the prom which is in another week. Great!" Haley groaned burying her face in the fluffy square shaped cushion.

"Hey don't be like that. I'm sure there are guys out there who would love to take you as their date." Brooke schuffled forward and rolled Haley on her back.

"In fact, the other day Chase asked me if you had a date. He said that he was interested in taking you to the prom." Peyton revealed with a bright smile planted on her face.

"Chase from the 'Clean Teens'?" Haley and Brooke asked in unison and received a nod from the laughing blonde haired girl.

"That guy is really cute. If I didn't like Lucas, I would have gone for him in a heartbeat." Brooke confessed dreamily.

"I don't wanna go with anyone but Nathan." Haley blurted out tersely and then covered her mouth with both her hands, shocked and horrified at what she had just said.

"But he is already going with Alex. His girlfriend, remember?" Brooke reminded her while lightly knocking on the crown of her head.

"Yeah. I know. You don't need to remind me of that fact."

"What's going on with you? You've been sulking and moping since Nathan and Alex got together. Don't you like Alex?" Peyton questioned while narrowing her eyes, a suspicion growing in her head.

"The only time I ever spoke with Alex was when Nathan introduced her to us...as his...girlfriend." She paused to take a long breath and continued speaking. "Nathan and I haven't spent any time together since he got together with Alex. He'd never had a girlfriend before and before Alex he'd spent almost the whole day with us and now...now we don't even see him properly even when we go to the same fricking high school. It's like he's forgotten all of us, forgotten me. He hasn't called me, not even a single text with just a smiley or a short goodbye and every time I try his phone, I get a voicemail. I feel so hurt that he won't even stop by and check how I'm doing or if I'm still alive in this world." Haley finished her long rant with a painful whimper, tears flowing like a stream of river down her reddened cheeks. She didn't even realize that she was crying until she felt a soft hand wiping the sticky wetness away from her face.

"God, Haley! Why didn't you tell us about this? You are so damn affected by Nathan and Alex's relationship-" Brooke stopped and replayed everything that Haley had just confessed and in a split second, as fast as a lightning, something clicked in her mind. Something huge. Mega hugr. The brunette glanced with impeccably wide eyes at Peyton who had the same reaction etched on her face. Both of them turned to look at the girl who was already staring back at them with a sad smile.

"You've got feelings for Nathan." Peyton stated softly, drawing out a long breath.

"I love him, guys. I always have." Haley revealed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Then why didn't you ever tell him about your feelings? And all this time, you've been hiding this from us? Keeping it to yourself and crying your heart out, all alone. Hales, we've known you since middle school and...and how could we possibly miss all of this?" Brooke questioned Peyton, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I guess I'm an outstanding actor." Haley spoke into the quiet room, trying to lighten up the tension filled atmosphere. "It isn't any of your fault guys. I've never talked about it with anyone until now. I just couldn't keep it inside of me anymore. I needed to get it all out. To be honest, I feel hundred times better now that I've told you guys." Haley smiled genuinely as she took Brooke's left and Peyton's right hand in hers.

"I wish you'd told us before Alex ever got into the picture. We would have done anything and everything to get you and Nathan together. To be honest Hales, I always felt that you guys looked perfect. The way you guys keep fighting and then end up hugging each other, it's-"

Peyton trailed off as Haley shook her head.

"It doesn't matter 'cause he doesn't feel that way about me and probably never will. He's got Alex now and she makes him happy, really happy. You know, I'd planned about confessing to him about my feelings a couple of time but the thought of him rejecting me... I couldn't have dealt with it. But now this, seeing him with another girl, it hurts million times more." The tears reappeared again and she laughed feeling pathetic at her current state.

"Ssshhhh...Don't cry Hales. It's gonna be okay." Brooke whispered as Haley rested her head on her shoulder while Peyton ran soothing circles across her back, trying to comfort the crying girl.

"I'm such a basket case." Haley chuckled quietly through her tears. "I'm crying my heart out over here while Nathan is out there somewhere with his girlfriend, probably having the best time of his life."


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan groaned inwardly as Alex went on and on about one of her zillion friends who had started dating another one of her friends. She had been on a non-stop rant since he had showed up at her place, over an hour ago.

The reason for his visit was that he needed help with an essay that had been assigned to him by their English teacher. His initial thought was to run over to his friend Haley, whom he had last seen over a week ago. But his girlfriend had assured him that she would help him out and finish it within minutes.

As promised, Alex had helped him and together they had managed to write off his essay in just under twenty minutes. He had already gathered his stuff together and was about to leave when she had grabbed him and was kissing the hell out of him. As soon as their lips had collided, Nathan knew that it was wrong, it was all wrong. It's true that when he had first met Alex over a month ago, he was instantly attracted to her. But that was just it. Attraction. He liked her a lot and he still liked her but the spark that he had felt back when they had first started dating had vanished. Completely.

On top of everything else, he was going through another crisis. A one which he felt was absolutely ridiculous. It had a great link with one of his closest friends. It was absolutely absurd. He had tried to figure out what all of it actually meant but had failed to crack the exact reason. It was also one of the main reasons why he had temporarily broken his connections with her. But the more days and time passed, the more he realized that all of his efforts were running futile.

When him and Alex had shared their first ever kiss, a picture of his beautiful and smiling auburn haired friend had briefly flashed before his closed eyes. He was baffled at first but had simply shrugged off the weird feeling.

The same happened the next time, then again the next time and it went on and on. He couldn't ignore it any longer. Something was obviously wrong with him, may be his mind was just playing sick tricks with him. He hadn't seen Haley for a very long time. He obviously missed her. Missed their playful banter. Missed hanging out with her. May be that's the reason why he would see her stunning and gorgeous face everytime he kissed Alex. 'Brooke and Peyton are also your friends whom you haven't seen in a long time. Then why do you only see Haley's face and not theirs you idiotic pest?' He heard his sub#conscious shout and look down at him with a scowl. He shook his head, ignoring him and stood up from the bed that belonged to the brunette who was now eyeing him with confusion marring her pretty face.

"Hey, where're you going?" Alex stopped with whatever she was babbling and mirrored his action, waiting for him to respond back.

"I...uh...I just remembered that...I...um..had to get back home early. My dad said that...that he needed to have a talk with me regarding my mom. So, I will have to get going." He stuttered nervously and felt bad about lying to Alex but no matter what, he had to get out of there. Had to know what the hell was going on in his head.

Pressing a quick kiss on her forehead. He gave her a shaky smile after muttering a quiet goodbye and got out of her room as fast as possible with the help of his long legs.

Alex sat back on the bed, her forehead still crinkling in utter confusion and asked no one in particular, her voice reverberating in the quiet room.

"What the heck just happened?"

Nathan tentatively made his way towards the table where he once used to hang out with his friends. A wide grin effortlessly attacked his lips as he watched all of them having their usual playful banter. His sparkling blue eyes quickly travelled from left to right, from one person to another and the smile from his lips instantly dropped as he realized that the one person he was desperately looking forward to meet was missing from her seat.

Where the heck was Haley? Did she skip classes today? Was she out in the library? Was she sick? His mind started reeling on its own account as he tried to think of a reason why his gorgeous 'friend' could be missing?

He had had a restless and a sleepless night, tossing and turning on his bed, the auburn haired girl invading his already messed up head. As soon as he had returned from Alex's, Nathan had ignored his father's inquisitive eyes and quickly climbed up the stairs with the help of his long legs and locked himself in his room, wanting to be left alone.

He had furiously wrecked his mind all night trying to figure out what all of it meant. His hair had been mussed since he had tugged and pulled on the strands in exasperation. Why oh why did the vivid images of one of his closest friends flashed before his eyes? Why did he long to see her beautiful face? From where had he suddenly developed the urge to hold her? To kiss her? He was going absolutely nuts!

Nathan cleared his throat upon reaching the table and watched as four sets of eyes looked up at him with extreme surprise while the other two new people whom he recognized as Jake and Sara greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Hey guys." Nathan greeted all of them with his cheshire grin.

"Uh...Brooke, do we know this guy?" Clay, whose left arm was draped across Sara's shoulder asked the bubbly brunette and received a nonchalant shrug in response.

Nathan rolled his eyes in clockwise at his friends and sat down on the flat surface of one of the empty chairs beside Lucas.

"Ha ha. So not funny dude. I know that I've been MIA for a while and I'm sorry for that."

"By 'for a while' you mean a long month and a week." Lucas raised his eyebrows and smirked in triumph when his raven haired friend sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"You know what? I deserve this. I deserve all of it. I was such a fool. I got so busy with Alex that I-"

"Nathan, dude, just chill. We are just messing with ya. Besides all of us know how amazing it feels to be in love." Peyton smiled and watched him shake his head which had her quirking an eyebrow in pure interest.

"I'm not... I mean Alex and I, we are not in love. We just like each other." Nathan explained and surreptiously eyed everyone who shared secretive looks among each other. Ignoring them, his forehead crinkled as something clicked inside him. "What do you mean you know how you feel to be in love?" His eyes went wide, almost bulging out of his sockets as he took in the goofy smiles on each of their illuminating faces.

"Holy crap!" Nathan shouted pointing towards the six people sitting at the table along with him. "You guys are together." He said looking at Brooke and Lucas who nodded in confirmation. "You guys are together." He pointed towards Clay and Sara who shared a french kiss to everyone's disgust and finally he rested his gaze on Peyton and Jake. "And finally you both." He sighed as Jake pressed a kiss on the back of Peyton's hand. "I can't believe that I missed so much." Looking back at them with a genuine smile he reached across to hug his friends. "Congratulations guys and welcome to the gang." He told Sara and Jake who thanked him in return.

Settling back into his seat, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, finally managing to ask the question that he'd wanted to ask since he had joined them ten minutes back.

"So, where's Hales?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant but failing to do so. His eyes travelled from Lucas who was sitting to his left, moving around in a clock wise rotation and ultimately rested on Peyton who was sitting to his right, a couple of seats away. "Is she in the library or somewhere else?"

"Oh she's definitely not in the library." Brooke answered, her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Nathan looked at the brunette who was looking past him and over his shoulders. He shifted a little in order to follow her gaze and after a brief search his eyes found the one person he had been looking for. That one person...who had her head down on some guy's shoulder, trying to calm down her body vibrating in immense laughter? What the-

Before he could process the scene happening before his eyes, his body stiffened; his face mirrored a look of horror; his stomach churned and twisted in the most painful way as he watched the guy tilt his head and press his lips upon hers.

Nathan quickly turned around and looked down at his feet with eyes shut tightly, trying to evade the feeling of someone stabbing his heart with a sharp knife. He tried very hard to get the sickening image of Haley kissing someone else out of his head but everytime he succeeded in doing so, it would all come back to him again. Chancing a quick peek at the others, he noticed the look of surprise on the faces of Brooke and Peyton. Also Clay and Lucas. He wanted to get out of there. Nedded to get out of there before he puked his guts out infront of everyone which wouls be embarassing or cry his heart out which would be humiliating. He released a massive sigh of relief hearing the unmistakable piercing sound of none other than Alex.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Alex stated dramatically and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. Looking up at the others, she greeted everyone cheerfully. "Hey guys, how have you all been?"

Nathan hastily stood up, grabbed Alex's hand and bolted out of there. Away from his friends who were watching his retreating back in bewilderment. Away from the girl who was kissing some other dude. Away from the girl who was probably still engaged in a lip-lock. Away from the girl who he thought missed him like the way he missed her. Away from the girl who was unknowingly shattering his heart into a zillion small pieces. Away from the girl with whom he had fallen in love. God! What was he gonna do? Of all the time he had to realize about his feelings, Did it had to be this? When he had a girlfriend and when Haley had a-

Why? Why now? Why not back when they had no one to think of?

He glared looking up at the clear blue sky that seemed to be mocking him. Laughing at his miserable state, a state of agony and enjoying the hurt and pain it was causing him. He closed his eyes as heard the quick footsteps following him. Sighing loudly, Nathan entered an empty classroom and put his head down on a retractable desk.

He was in some deep shit!

As soon as she felt Chase's lips upon her own, Haley's eyes flew open and she quickly stepped back at the same time pushing him away.

"Oh my God! Haley, I'm...God I'm really sorry. I didn't-"

She nodded in understanding and gave him a shaky smile, her heart rate accelerating but not in a good way. "It's...It's okay, Chase. I know you didn't mean to." Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

After managing to get herself together, she opened her eyes and looked at the guilt stricken guy standing before her.

"I'm sorry. You are a really good friend, Chase and I thought spending some time together with you as friends would get my mind off Nathan but it's just not working. I just...I can't do this. I really hope you understand." She told him, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes any second.

Chase nodded still feeling angry at himself for kissing the most amazing girl standing before him. He had definitely ruined all the possible chances of asking her to prom. Then again, he guessed he never really had any chance. He stepped forward to give her a brief, awkward hug.

"I'm sorry again. Nathan doesn't know what he's missing out on. You're an amazing girl Haley. I pray that you get everything you ever wish for."

"Not all wishes come true, Chase." Haley smiled sadly and walked away after patting his upper arm.

"Are you okay?"

Nathan reluctantly dragged his head up and leisurely rubbed his face. He still felt as if someone was deliberately squeezing and twisting his heart inside of him.

"Yeah." He croaked out.

"Do you know what I think?" Alex asked and continued to speak when he shook his head from side to side. "I think that you are in love with Haley. I think that you guys are made for each other."

To say that he was shock would be an understatement. Nathan was beyond shock. There wasn't a word invented to describe the look marring his features. How could she know? How could Alex-

The words halted in his reeling mind as he watched the serious look fade away from her pretty face.

Alex burst into a fit of laughter as she took in the undescribable expression etched upon her boyfriend's handsome face. She covered her mouth with both of her hands in order to stifle her high-pitched laugh but failed miserably.

"Oh my God! I was just kidding. But the look on your face." She spoke in between her laughter. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." Alex hugged him but grew confused when he pulled away from their embrace.

"No, Alex. I'm the one who's sorry." Nathan muttered, loud enough so that she could hear him.

"What do you mean?" She whispered warily.

"I'm sorry, because you are right. I do love her. I am in love with Haley."

She burst into another fit of laughter, this time laughing harder than before. "Now, you are just messing with me." Alex's laughter turned into soft chuckles but then it ceased completely when his lips didn't even break into a smile. That's when she realized he was dead serious. Proving all of her doubts correct.

She sighed sadly and took a seat next to him. "I guess, I always knew. I wish it was just my imagination but unfortunately, it isn't."

"I'm really very sorry Alex. I did not want any of this to happen. But-"

"The heart wants what it wants." She smiled softly, finishing his sentence.

Nathan nodded. "You're a great girl Alex Dupre. I'm sure you'll find someone worthy enough to be with you." He leaned in to pull her into a hug.

"I know. After all I'm Alex!" She spoke proudly as they both shared a hearty laugh.

"You should go and tell her before it's too late. Before someone else comes in and sweeps her off her feet." She advised and frowned as he slumped his shoulders sadly.

"I think someone already has."

"It doesn't matter. You should still tell her. You'll never know anything until you give it a try."

"You broke poor Chase's heart." Brooke stated when Haley finished telling them the whole story. She was in her room, dressed in her PJ's , sulking when the girls had barged in without permission demanding details of the interesting event to which had been an audience, earlier in the day.

"I'm sure he'll live, Brooke. It's not like he's ugly or anything. He can get any girl he wants. I'm sure he'll find someone to be his date at the prom."

"Speaking of prom. Who are you gonna go with?" Peyton inquired arching one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Actually, I'm gonna skip going to prom."

"Haley James, you did not just say that."

Haley cringed as Brooke and Peyton shouted in unison, looking at her as if she had confessed to commiting the most dangerous crime of all time.

"You are going and that's final. No buts." Brooke declared before she could open her mouth to protest any further.

"You know? You can always go with Nathan." Peyton suggested with a mysterious glint in her eyes.

"Hello, miss short term memory loss. In case you've forgotten, Nathan is already going with Alex. His girlfriend, remember?" Haley informed her with a wave of her hands.

"Not anymore." Brooke piped in.

"What do you mean?"

"What she means is that Nathan and Alex broke up today." Peyton revealed to the oblivious girl with a smirk.

"What?" Haley asked shocked but inwardly sighing in relief, a ray of hope surging inside her. "How do you guys know?"

"We ran into Alex at the end of last period who told us about it. She said he was in love with someone else and that she already kinda knew about it. She looked perfectly fine to me by the way. No traces of heartbreak or a single tear on her face. Nothing. She was her usual bubbly self."

"He's in love with someone else?" Haley asked at the two smiling girls who nodded eagerly.

"Hmmm...I wonder who she is." Peytom mused, enjoying the perplexed state of her friend.

"What are you guys not telling me?" Haley asked inquisitively, the frantic pace of her heartbeat accelerating further in anticipation.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out."

With that last cryptic comment, Brooke and Peyton strolled out of her room, laughing mockingly, waving and then finally blowing her a flying kiss.

"Ughh...I hate you both." She screamed at the top of her lungs as the door to her room closed shut.

Haley fell back on her bed with a sigh and stared up at the ceiling, a wide smile attacking her lips.

"Could it be possible? Could that someone be me? The one person that Nathan said he is in love with?" She wondered aloud, her heart skipping a few beats and her stomach fluttering with butterflies at the pleasant and heavenly thought.

She reached towards the nightstand, getting hold of her phone. Scrolling through the names in her contact list, she stopped her movements finding the one that she was looking for. Selcting the 'Call' option, Haley put the phone against her left ear and heard as it started ringing. Suddenly feeling scared and nervous, she pulled it away and quickly hit the 'End Call' option.

Haley cradled the phone into her chest and took in a deep breath, trying to calm her heart that was bouncing off her ribs and beating at an abnormal speed.

"Thank goodness young people do not die of heart attacks." She muttered as her heart started beating back at a normal and sensible speed. Pulling the phone away, she looked at the bright screen for a long period of time and after another pause, hit the 'Call' option again. She was sure that he wouldn't receive her call. He hadn't for a long time.

The phone from her hands slipped away and she jumped in surprise, hearing the ringtone of his phone echoing throughout her bedroom. What the-

Turning to her left, she gasped when she found one of his long legs inside her room through the window while he desperately tried to get his other leg in too, trying very hard not to trip and fall head first on the ground twenty feet below.

Fearing the worst, Haley got into action. She jumped off her bed and rushed towards the window to help the struggling boy. As she tried to get him in, Nathan's leg accidentally hit hers and they both went flying, gasping and ultimately falling onto the tiled slippery floor, thankfully inside her room.

They remained locked in their position with Haley lying flat on top of him, her flushed face buried into his neck. Unfortunately she had to move. They couldn't remain in that same position forever.

Haley reluctantly pulled away and stared into his captivating eyes, her hair forming a protective cacoon around them.

Nathan gazed deeply into her radiating brown eyes and pushed her hair back, trying to get a clear and unadultered view of her beautiful face. He hadn't seen her up close for the past month and a half. He missed it. Missed everything about her.

His long fingers danced over her cheekbone and moved slowly, sensually down across her jaw and rested on her chin. He ran his thumb across her bottom lip and watched as her eyes closed appreciatively, her breathing getting shallower with the passing of every single second.

The intimate moment between the two tangled bodies ended in a blink of an eye.

Nathan frowned when she abrupty pushed herself off him, turning away and gazing out of the window. He closed his eyes and released a long breath before standing up straight. He watched her back and noticed as she clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly. He knew she did it- either when she was nervous or at times when she was extremely angry. In the current situation, he was sure that it was the latter option.

Gulping the enormous lump of spit down his throat, Nathan took a few tentative steps in the direction where she stood with her back at him and whispered warily.

"Hales..."

"What are you doing here, Nathan?" Her voice was surprisingly calm but her icy glare when she turned to look at him, gave her away.

"I came here to see you. I missed you." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"You missed me? You. missed. me?" She seethed in anger, enunciating every word through gritted teeth. Moving towards him, she pushed her pointer finger painfully into his chest, almost digging the perfectly manicured finger through and across his body.

"Yeah..." Nathan felt another lump in his throat that he swallowed fleetingly. "Uh...I...You..." He stammered, failing to get a single coherent word out of his dry mouth. When he had set out of his house in determination, he knew what he had to do. He'd planned everything, repeating everything in his head like a mantra. But now, standing infront of her fuming form, he couldn't even remember a single sentence that he could choke out, which could actually make any sense. He could only fold his hands and watch her outburst in pure amusement. God, he loved her!

"We tried to get a hold of you everyday. I," she emphasised pointing her thumb towards herself, "I called you everyday, left a dozen messages on your phone but you were so damn engrossed with your pretty girlfriend that you didn't even care to reply any of them or even call me back. Did you even stop and think for a second how I was doing? What I was feeling? Whether or not, I was lying in a ditch somehere? You say you missed me. Well, then I've got to say- you've got an amazing way of showing it, Nathan Scott." She finished without pausing to breathe in any air, her body heaving with an urgent need of oxygen.

"Are you finished? Can I speak now?" Nathan asked, a shit-eating grin spreading across his lips and emitted a low chuckle as she scowled back at him.

He walked forward until he was right infront of her. Gently grabbing her shoulders, he pushed her backwards until the back of her knees hit against her bed and she was forced to sit down. Dropping down to his knees before her, he took both of her hands in his and stared into her mesmerising eyes.

"Do you have any idea how hot and sexy you look when you're furiously angry?" His voice came out in a husky whisper and her eyes went wide in surprise. They had never shared such an intimate conversation ever. She had never, ever heard him speak so damn sexily. A shiver ran across her spine and she felt the hair at the nape of her neck stand upright, goosebumps forming across her skin.

"What-"

"Sshhhhh..." Nathan pressed his index and middle finger against her kissable lips, stopping whatever she was trying to get out of her distracting mouth.

He reveled in this new feeling swirling inside of him. His heart was thudding against the thick layer of his chest and never in his life had he ever wanted to kiss someone as badly as he wanted to kiss her now. But before doing that, he wanted to declare his feelings for her. Open his heart out.

"You know? I thought I really liked Alex. She seemed nice and I liked talking with her." He paused as she averted her gaze, feeling hurt as he fondly spoke of his girlfriend...err...ex-girlfriend.

Nathan smiled and grasped her chin with his thumb, forcing her to look back at him. "I needed to get away from you because lately I'd been getting these pleasantly strange and weird feelings whenever you'd be around me. I reveled in the feeling whenever we'd share a hug or a friendly pat or kiss on the cheek. I'm ashamed to admit it but I guess I used Alex as a distraction. I shrugged those my new feelings for you off but the more time I spent with Alex, the more I kept missing you. Whenever Alex kissed me," he paused and watched as she closed her eyes in agony but he couldn't stop now. He had to get it all out. A minute ago he couldn't speak but now the words were flowing out of his mouth effortlessly. "Whenever she kissed me, all I could see was you. Your stunning face would flash before my eyes and I'd break the kiss feeling guilty as if I was cheating on you which was funny because we're just friends right?" He did not wait for her response, only continued further. "But today...today when I saw some guy kiss you..I...I just lost it. I felt like someone had punched me and then kicked me hard inbetween my legs. It was that painful."

Haley would have laughed at that funny description but the serious look and the way his handsome face twisted recollecting the said scene, forced her to shut her mouth and only listen intently to the boy kneeling infront of her, pouring his heart out.

"Look," Nathan said squeezing her hands, "I know you must be probably dating this guy but I just wanted to get this out. That guy obviously looked cool and pretty handsome and he-"

"Chase."

"What?"

"The guy who kissed me, his name is Chase."

Nathan glanced down at their joined hands. "Great! He's even got a cool name." he muttered sarcastically.

"And we're definitely not dating."

His head shot up as he heard her last comment. "You are not?" He sighed in relief as she nodded but then his forehead crinkled in confusion. "Then why were you guys-"

"None of that matters right now. Would you just hurry and utter those three magical words that I've been dreaming of you saying them to me for the past six months?"

"How did you know that I was going to say that I lo...uh...those magical words?" He asked arching his eyebrows so high that they almost reached his hairline.

"I just know, okay! Now say those words because I'm dying to say them back to you." She revealed eagerly, almost bouncing on her feet.

"If you are so damn impatient, why don't you say them to me first?" He smirked, urging her.

Haley rolled her eyes.

"If I wanted to be the first one to say them, I'd have told you six months ago. Now say them before I throw you out of my window." She threatened dangerously.

He gasped in horror. "Why the hell did I fall for you? Is it too late to back out now?" He asked making a straight face.

"Nathan Scott, I swear if you back away now, I'm gonna murder you and bury your rotten body in the backyard of this house."

"Okay okay, jeez!" He conceded while laughing and stood up, pulling her along with him.

Facing each other and both smiling insanely, Nathan caressed her cheek.

"I love you, Haley James. Despite of your dangerous threats, your fury, your unnecessary and never-ending lectures on trivial matters...I am in love with you."

She glared playfully at him.

"Did you really have to ruin it by adding those extra words after your sweet and simple 'I love you'?"

"Hey, at least I said the words. Now you've got to say them back. Come on." He waited and heard her sigh dramatically.

"Do I really have to? I mean, you get the picture right?"

"Hales..." He whined petulantly but smiled a sparkling smile as she stepped closer to him, twining her hands around his neck and resting them at the nape.

"I love you."

They leaned towards one another with smiles shining brighter than the sun in the morning sky and relaxed when their lips finally...finally met together.

Haley stood high up on her toes as he circled his hands around her waist and reveled in the mind blowing, numbing, exploding and every other '-ing' feeling. Their mouths opened and closed in sync allowing their tongues to tangle playfully, to taste and enjoy each other's company.

"Despite of you being such a lousy and bad kisser, I am in love with you too." She teased and squealed delightfully when he carefully flung her on the bed and pinned her vibrating body beneath his.

"Bad kisser? I guess I have no other option but to change your ridiculous mind regarding my heavenly kisses."

"Hmmm...I guess you better start right away 'cause it's gonna take you a very long time to get me to change my opinion." Haley muttered seductively and closed her eyes as he nodded in agreement and joined their lips together once again, determined to prove all of her accusations dead wrong and at the same time enjoying their newly formed romantic relationship.

**THE END**

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